1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in systems and processes for recording information and more specifically for systems and processes in which a decision to record material beginning at a particular point in time be made after that point in time.
2. Description of Related Art
Automobiles are known in which both radios and tape players are installed. Usually, however, tape players do not have a record function. One reason for this may be that by the time a piece of music is recognized and a decision made to record, the music has begun and the opportunity to capture the beginning portion of the music has passed.
Video recorders are also known which can be programmed to receive particular programs at particular times of day on particular channels. Video recorders face the same problem in that, unless pre-programmed in advance, one cannot capture a program from the beginning, after the program has begun.
Portable video recording devices are also known which begin recording the output of a video camera on video tape when a record button is pushed by a user. Consider a person desiring to videotape a wedding. The recorder might fail to record an unexpected event because the record button had not been pushed because nothing worth recording was expected. Similarly, the person recording the wedding might run out of tape at precisely the moment vows are exchanged. Like the other examples, it would be desirable to be able to make a decision to capture events within the view of the camera on tape after those events have occurred.
In each of the electronic devices described above, and in other similar devices, one can often not determine the significance of events until after the events have occurred. It would be desirable to be able to capture, on a recording medium, events which have already occurred.
The present invention provides a system and process which permits a decision to capture time sequential information beginning at a particular point in time to be made after that point in time.
In one form, the invention permits music to be captured from the beginning even though the decision to record the music occurs after the music has begun.
In another form, the invention permits a video program to be captured from the beginning even though the decision to capture the information is delayed until after the program material has started.
In another form of the invention, a portable video camera is equipped with the capability of recording scenes which occurred prior to the decision to begin recording.
Apparatus is disclosed for recording program material, such as music or a television program, from the beginning, after the beginning of the program material has passed. A source of program material and a recording device are connected by a delayed recording circuit. The delayed recording circuit is configured to introduce delay between the source and the recording device and to selectively activate the recording device to record information from the source from its beginning after it has been delayed. The start or end of a program can be identified by comparing the output of a clock with known program starting times or by receiving program starting and/or stopping information from an external communications link.
The delayed recording circuit can be a digital computer and analog sources or recording devices can be accommodated using analog to digital conversion techniques.
Also disclosed is a process for use with a recording device, receiving different types of information, such as music and voice, from a source in a time sequence, for recording at least a portion of one type of information from its beginning, after its beginning has passed. The process includes reading information from a source into computer memory, identifying the beginning and after the beginning, controlling the recording device to record the one type of information from said beginning as it is read from said computer memory.
Also disclosed is a video camera/recorder which permits the recording of events occurring within the field of view of the camera after the events have occurred by connecting a video camera to a recording device over a delayed recording circuit. The delayed recording circuit is configured to introduce delay between the source and the recording device and to activate, after a particular point in time, the recording device to record information beginning from or before the particular point in time. In one version, the delayed recording circuit is configured to cause the recording device to continue to record information delayed by said delayed recording circuit after a stop button has been pushed until all information delayed up until the time the stop button is pushed has been recorded and to ignore the stop button if a record button is pushed before recording ceases in response to the stop button.
Also disclosed is a computer program product having a computer readable medium containing a process in a computer program form for controlling a computer receiving different types of information from a source in a time sequence, to record at least a portion of one type of information from its beginning, after its beginning had been received by said computer. The process includes reading information from said source into computer memory, identifying said beginning and after the beginning, controlling a recording device to record the one type of information from the beginning as it is read from the computer memory.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein only the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.